Without Erik Davis' help, the Palenque
Norte conversations would not have become a reality. He was the first
person we asked to give a presentation at Palenque Norte, and not only
did Erik say Yes! right away, he even helped us enlist other
speakers. So you can imagine our angst when we discovered that the last
part of Erik's presentation didn't survive the playa. The good news is
that a written version of Erik's presentation did survive ... thanks,
of course, to Erik who handed out copies to those who braved the incessant
dust storms to hear him in person. In the event Erik posts the text version
online somewhere, we will link to it from here also.

Erik and Palenque Norte welcome you to download and listen to Erik's
entire presentation, but we do ask that you observe the following copyright
notice:

Sound
bites:"Involuting
Burning Man, what I mean by cults . . . How
do we talk about Burning Man, a personal interactive experience on the
playa, where the sacred may be found at Burning Man . . . Is Burning
Man a "sacred" event, getting lost, historical resonances
. . . The cult of experience, the ultimate attention economy, experience
as a spiritual good . . . Experience vs. dogma in religion, awareness
of the constructed nature of our "experience frame" . . .
William James as a core ancestor, the spiritual counterculture of the
60s . . . Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, West Coast vs. East Coast
psychedelic spirituality, Burning Man as a continuation of the Prankster
experiments . . . The vexed question of psychedelic spirituality, the
call of transcendence . . . Light technology, the paleo-cybernetic age,
analogue vs. digital technology, Fire: the ultimate flicker-tech . .
. The changing role of fire at Burning Man . . . The cult of juxtapose,
spiritual irony"